Lassa fever has claimed more lives than COVID-19 in Ondo State in 2020 with the state topping the chart of states with the highest confirmed and death-related cases.
The Acting Commissioner for Health in Ondo State, Dr Jibayo Adeyeye, disclosed this on Thursday, while sensitizing residents of Owo, in Owo Local Government Area of the state on the eradication of Lassa fever.
According to Dr. Adeyeye who also doubles as the Special Adviser on Health to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Health, 18% fatalities were recorded from the total reported cases of Lassa fever in the state while less than 1% COVID-19 related deaths occurred in the state.
The Acting Commissioner further revealed that with 75% confirmed cases of the deadly disease from three states in the country, Ondo State has the highest of 36%.
While revealing that Owo and Ose Local Government Areas of the epicentres of Lassa fever in the state, Dr Adeyeye appealed to residents on the need to always maintained proper hygiene by ensuring that rodents which are the carriers of the disease are exterminated from their surroundings.
While emphasizing that the dry season usually heralds the outbreak of the disease in the country, he stated that the only way that Lassa fever can be eradicated is only when rodents are wiped off from communities, hence the distribution of 10,000 pieces of rodenticides free of charge to residents in order to exterminate rodents.
